Tony Blair has appeared in a video promoting Kazakhstan, a former Soviet state criticised for media crackdowns and alleged human rights abuses.

In the 67 minute film produced by Kazakh state television Mr Blair praised Kazakhstan, where he works part-time as a presidential adviser, for its progress since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

“It’s a country almost unique, I would say, in its cultural diversity and the way it brings different faiths together and cultures together,” Mr Blair said in the video.

His interview cuts into the film shortly after an opening sequence showing Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Kazakh president, unveiling a replica Arc de Triomphe in the new capital, Astana.

“In the work that I do there,” Mr Blair said, “I’ve found them really smart people, very capable, very determined and very proud of their country.” Mr Blair plays a prominent role in the video. Sound-bites from his interview appear throughout the film which also stars government ministers and foreign business leaders working in Kazakhstan.

The film was uploaded on to YouTube on Feb 9, less than two months after riots in the west of Kazakhstan between former oil workers and the security forces killed at least 16 people.

Related Articles

The promotional video, though, concentrates on Kazakhstan’s economic progress and stability under Mr Nazarbayev, who has ruled throughout independence.

Kazakhstan has become rich on energy and mineral wealth, attracting senior businessmen and a series of high profile advisers to the country.

Mr Blair arguably became Kazakhstan’s highest-profile signing when he reportedly signed a deal in 2011.

His team have repeatedly denied that he was profiting from the deal and said that his only involvement had been to pick a team of advisers based in Astana.

Kazakh officials, though, have said that the former British Prime Minister is personally advising the Kazakh President.

In November they released video footage of Mr Blair sitting in the presidential office at Mr Nazarbayev’s right-hand side, a place normally reserved for subservient ministers.

Despite the high-profile cast, the promotional video has not been a runaway success.

At the time of writing, only 222 people had viewed the video on YouTube.

Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Tony Blair is in a better position than most to know that a country that violates fundamental human rights is not a good environment for economic investment.”

A spokesman for Mr Blair said the former prime minister was advising “on questions of institutional and political reform as well as economic development.”

“In the interview to which you refer, Mr Blair also made it clear that there had to be political reform including on human rights,” he said. “Indeed he’s working with the Government on that.”

Mr Blair's interview for the Kazakh promotional video had clearly been heavily edited and there were no references to human rights or governance throughout the film.